Raspberry Pi Home Security System: PIR Motion Detection + Camera Email Alerts

Hardware Components

: Camera Module

: PIR Motion Sensor (JST)

: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B

Software and Services

Gmail account (sender and recipient)
SSH access for remote configuration

Project Overview

In this project, a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B is paired with a camera module and a PIR motion sensor. When motion is detected, the camera captures an image and the system sends it to a designated email address via Gmail.

Wiring Diagram

Connect the sensor’s 5V pin to Raspberry Pi pin 3 (5 V), the sensor’s GND pin to pin 5 (GND), and the sensor’s OUT pin to GPIO 23. You can select a different GPIO pin but remember to update the Python code accordingly.

Python Implementation

The following script demonstrates the core logic. Update the email addresses and Gmail password before running.

from picamera import PiCamera
from time import sleep
import smtplib
import time
from datetime import datetime
from email.mime.image import MIMEImage
from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO

TO_EMAIL = 'TO_EMAIL'
FROM_EMAIL = 'FROM_EMAIL'
PASSWORD = 'PASSWORD'  # Gmail account password or App password

GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
GPIO.setup(23, GPIO.IN)

camera = PiCamera()
camera.resolution = (1024, 768)
camera.start_preview()

while True:
    if GPIO.input(23):
        print("Motion detected...")
        time.sleep(2)  # camera warm‑up
        camera.capture('movement.jpg')
        time.sleep(10)  # debounce period

        msg = MIMEMultipart()
        msg['Subject'] = 'Security alert'
        msg['From'] = FROM_EMAIL
        msg['To'] = TO_EMAIL

        with open('movement.jpg', 'rb') as fp:
            img = MIMEImage(fp.read())
        msg.attach(img)

        server = smtplib.SMTP('smtp.gmail.com', 587)
        server.starttls()
        server.login(FROM_EMAIL, PASSWORD)
        server.send_message(msg)
        server.quit()

For detailed steps, refer to the full guide: Raspberry Pi Home Security System with Camera and PIR Sensor.

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